‘UK house prices in biggest rise since 2007’

London - British house prices recorded their biggest annual rise since the start of the financial crisis last month, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Wednesday, in news that casts doubt on other signs that the housing market is slowing.

House prices in the three months to July were 10.2 percent higher than the same period a year ago, Halifax said, the largest annual increase since September 2007, the same month that there was a run on British lender Northern Rock.

July's annual rise was driven by a 1.4 percent jump month-on-month jump in house prices, which followed a 0.4 percent fall in June, and exceeded all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists last week.

“The housing market is shaking off new mortgage rules. This is important, as the Bank of England have recently been pointing to the housing market as a good reason for broader economic growth to slow,” said Rob Wood, UK economist at Berenberg.

Since April British mortgage lenders have been required to conduct tighter credit checks on new borrowers, and in June the BoE limited how much most home-buyers could borrow in an effort to curb rising household debt levels.

April's measures led to a fall in mortgage approvals, but it has been unclear if this would be temporary or permanent. Mortgage approvals began to rise again in June.

Comment Guidelines

Has a comment offended you? Hover your mouse over the comment and wait until a small triangle appears on the right-hand side. Click triangle () and select "Flag as inappropriate". Our moderators will take action if need be.

Verified email addresses: All users on Independent Media news sites are now required to have a verified email address before being allowed to comment on articles. You are only required to verify your email address once to have full access to commenting on articles. For more information please read our comment guidelines